New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 10/7/14

The NHL season may be just around the corner, but the season has already started for numerous prospects across the junior, collegiate, and European leagues. Let's take a look to see how the Devils prospects have started their seasons.

CHL

Both Ryan Kujawinski and Connor Chatham are off to decent starts for their respective OHL clubs. As I wrote this summer, I think Kujawinski could be poised for a breakout season.

The Devils most recent 1st round pick, John Quenneville was off to an encouraging start with Brandon before leaving Saturday's game against Red Deer with an "upper body" injury.

Anthony Brodeur got off to a hot start for Gatineau before faltering as of late. The good news for him is that he's still the #1 and will have every chance to cement that role this season. Here is a refresher on stats like GA%-, Goals Saved Abover Average, Quality Starts, Really Bad Starts, and Bail outs.

NCAA

Blake Pietila will serve as a co-captain for the second consecutive season for Michigan Tech. He switched to center last season and put up a 59.80 FO% and is already off to a strong start in that department this season. I'm interested in seeing if he can keep his strong FO% rate up which, coupled with his defensive game, will make him an interesting prospect for the Devils.

So far Pietila is the only Devils college prospect whose regular season has kicked off. It's notable that Blake Coleman is projected to skate as LW on the top line with top free agent C Austin Czarnik for Miami. Coleman recently put up 2 goals, 2 assists, +3, 9 shots, won 6 of 7 faceoffs, and missed a penalty shot in an exhibition game against Simon Fraser University. Boston College played a preseason game against New Brunswick where Steve Santini put up an assist, 2 shots, and 2 penalty minutes. He's been playing with highly regarded 2015 draft prospect Noah Hanifin this preseason.

KHL, USHL, USHS

Artur Gavrus is off to a strong start for Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. After putting up just 1 goal and 3 assists in 30 games last year, he already has 4 goals in 13 games, which ties him for 4th on the team. His shots per game rate is up from 1.2 in 2013-14 to 2.0 this year, despite averaging only 23 more seconds of ice time per game. Thanks to One World Sports, I've been able to watch a handful of Dinamo Minsk (and other KHL games) and one thing I noticed is that despite playing on the 4th line, Gavrus gets to play the left point on the top power play unit. Being utilized in a more offensive role and his SH% jumping from 2.8% to 15.4% is a big reason for this increased production. According to Quant Hockey, Gavrus' points per game rate of .308 is above the KHL median of .250 and his goals per game rate of .308 is just under the 90th percentile rate for the KHL of .333.

Joey Dudek hasn't found the scoresheet for Dubuque in the USHL yet but has a decent shots per game rate through 3 games. A 10 minute misconduct has his penalty minutes inflated at the moment. On the Miles Wood front, he was scheduled to play fall hockey with the South Shore Kings of the USPHL before his prep season started but for some reason he backed out. His prep season with Nobles doesn't start until the end of November and ends in February. I was hoping he would play in the USPHL to get more ice time.

AHL

The Albany Devils will open their season with a visit to Adirondack on October 11. They recently concluded their preseason with a win over Lehigh Valley behind power play goals by Raman Hrabarenka and Graham Black and the goaltending of Scott Wedgewood.

As Pete Dougherty of the Times Union notes, there are currently 29 players in Albany's camp, not counting the potential additions of Steve Bernier, Cam Janssen, and Peter Harrold. Dougherty also mentions that Chris McKelvie, Kelly Zajac, Scott Timmins, and David Wohlberg are all questionable for the opener.

Besides the players under contract with Albany or sent down by New Jersey, the camp includes two tryouts - F Thomas Hartnett and RW Alexandre Carrier. Hartnett attended this year's prospect camp after four years of NCAA D3 hockey and is probably there as filler. Carrier is coming off a two year AHL deal with the Devils where he spent all of it in the ECHL or CHL.

Prospect of the Week

One could certainly make a case for John Quenneville to earn "prospect of the week" honors but I want to focus on Artur Gavrus. As I mentioned above, Gavrus has already equaled his point production from last season and is off to a solid start for a 20 year old player in the KHL. His smooth skating and offensive instincts have made him a staple on Dinamo's top power play unit and he's shown the versatility to control the point as a forward. If he can produce a strong season, then maybe the Devils will try to entice him to spend next season in Albany. He's no stranger to the North American game after playing parts of two seasons in the OHL. Hopefully his experience in the KHL will help his development and make him more prepared to take on the North American game once again in his future.

Your Take

Which prospect are you most looking forward to following this year? What are your expectations for these prospects and the Albany Devils? Do you think we will ever see Gavrus return to North America? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!